Welcome to the Rebellion Era forums; this forum is set during the time of Episodes 4 - 6, from just before the Battle of Yavin to just after the Battle of Endor. This thread contains the rules and guidelines we ask you to follow when you RP in the Rebellion Era forums.

If you've got any questions, please feel free to Private Message a Moderator or Administrator. Alternatively, you can post your questions in the RP OOC forums.

The Golden Rule
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, be nice.

Respect the Moderators & Admins
Do not fight the staff or administration; their rule is law. It is their job to keep the board civil and running smoothly. Making public complaints regarding any administrative, enforcement, or other Moderator/Admin will not be tolerated. If you've have an issue, please private message (PM) a Moderator or Administrator.

Restricted Topics of Discussion
The following topics are restricted, meaning they are forbidden to be talked about outside of the Restricted Topics Subforum. Anyone who discusses these topics will be warned, at the discretion of the Mod/Admin team. Three warnings will lead to a ban.

Religion

Politics

Evolution

Abortion

If you would like to discuss these topics, please head to the Restricted Topics Subforum registration thread and make a request there.

Mature Content
While Mature content (ESRB Ratings) is allowed, we ask that any relevant warnings be included in the thread title. For example, if an RP contained excessive foul language, we ask that you include an appropriate warning, e.g. "Dun Moch: Tribulations *strong language*". Content rated below Mature need not contain warnings. Content rated Adult-Only or NC-17 should be kept elsewhere.

Moderator Terms
Moderators serve a lifetime appointment; there is no set term-limit. However, the community may remove a Moderator via a community-wide vote of no-confidence. If this vote passes by a two-thirds majority, the Moderator is removed and a new one is elected by the community. If a Moderator chooses to step down voluntarily, a new Moderator will be chosen by vote. The site administrators will conduct all votes.

Illustrated below are some guidelines we'd like you to follow when you RP within the Rebellion Era forums. These forums are far less structured than the Exodus Galaxy and TOR forums, and as such are governed by fewer rules.

Character Creation

The first step of participating in the Rebellion Era forum is to create a character. This process can begin through a variety of ways. You may have a character you'd like to play: Perhaps you've always wanted to RP a Jedi or a smuggler or a bounty hunter, so you start with the character concept first. Or, maybe you want to tell a specific story such as how a group of mercenaries are hired to overthrow a tyrant; you thus craft the character to fit the story. Regardless of how you choose to begin, you'll want to come up with the details of your character. Remember, the more detail the better. Detail gives not only you a better sense of the character, but also allows others who RP with you a better idea of what your character is all about.

SW:E is unique in that we have very few rules governing the character creation process because we feel, in general, these rules stifle the creativity of our members. That said, we do have a few guidelines we'd like all members to follow. They are listed below:

What we mean here is that we frown upon the Sith Lord who is a master of eighteen lightsaber styles and can destroy the sun of a solar system 132 light years away. We discourage the bounty hunter who is so awesome at his craft that he's able to hit a target from seventy kilometers with a pistol, while blind and deaf. Not only does this create problems with other people in terms of power levels, it also makes the entire RP process entirely boring. How interesting is a story where the protagonist(s) have no faults and are never at risk?

You might wonder how we decide what is uber or GMed or OP. There are no set guidelines on the definition of "uber", but it's pretty much common sense. Is the character a Mary Sue? Is the character Superman? Does the character have flaws? Additionally, how the character reached his or her power level is also an important consideration. For example, Jedi Masters can certainly be construed as OP and GMed, but if the RPer created the character from scratch and RPed him as a Padawan who trained to become a Jedi Knight and eventually reached the Master-level, then the character would likely not be considered GMed because the RPer put in effort to RP; the character was not a Jedi Master at start.

2) The "Star Destroyer Ownership" Rule

Related to the above rule about GMing, there is a restriction on ownership of Star Destroyer-class (and similar) capital warships by individual characters and private organizations. Many people commonly forget that Star Destroyers and related vessels (such as the NR equivalents) are not common ships. These ships are immense; they are an incredible resource sink, possess tremendous firepower, and require terrible amounts of crew and supplies to properly crew. Only the very richest of governmental bodies can afford to maintain more than a handful of these battleships, let alone build any. (In modern terms, a Star Destroyer is equivalent to a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier such as the Gerald Ford-class; these things cost billions of dollars to build, with almost all navies fielding a single nuclear-powered carrier.) As a result, individual characters or even smuggler and pirate groups would certainly be unable to field any of these ships.

Remember that this rule does not preclude individuals from using smaller vessels like Action IV transports; only the largest of ships, generally greater than 1000-meters in length, are restricted.

3) Your character cannot be the In-Character (IC) head of a canon, major governmental faction.

This rule simply states that no player characters can be the Emperor or the lead of the Rebel Alliance; those positions are headed by NPC's. Why do we do this? We've found in the past that player-created characters who are heads of state created too tempting of an environment where the point of RP was not story-telling but governmental simulation and/or power-playing. This fostered negative interactions with other members and generated bad attitudes. We want to prevent this from happening.

Jumping into a Story

Once you've created your character, you'll want to find a story in which to RP. Like the character creation process, there are many ways to go about this. If you have a particular story you want to tell, you can go ahead and post your RP thread in the Rebellion Era forums. If you don't have a specific plot, then you can look around in the RP OOC forum for any threads that interest you; if you see one, post in the OOC thread asking to join or inquire for more information. Alternatively, simply browse the various existing IC threads in the Rebellion Era forums; if there's anything to your liking, ask about joining in the appropriate OOC thread, or PM the thread's author.

Please note that some threads will be labelled as Open, Closed, or will not possess a label. These terms have different meanings:

Open: Anyone is welcome to hop into the thread without express permission. Feel free to start posting, provided your posts fit within the context of the thread.

Closed: Closed threads are, well, closed to the public; they are generally invite only. If you are interested in joining, please PM or otherwise contact the thread's author before posting IC in the thread.

No Label: Sometimes threads are labelled neither Open nor Closed; in this case, it's best to inquire within the thread with an OOC post, or ask for permission in the thread's OOC thread.

Creating Your Own Story

If you want to create your own story, you are perfectly welcome to do so. We simply ask that you follow the following rules/guidelines:

Stories and characters should not drastically change the fundamental setting and environment of the Rebellion Era.

The time period is set around 2 BBY to 5 ABY .

Finally, if your thread contains Mature content, please provide a brief warning in the thread title. For example, if your thread contains graphic violence, it would be prudent to warn your readers: Dun Moch: Shadows of Light *Mature Content - Violence*. We prohibit any content that would be construed as NC-17 or Adult Only, such as erotica from being posted on the forums.

SWE does not employ Game Masters and the Moderators do not fill this role (unless specifically requested). We rely on all RPers to use Common Sense and be respectful towards other people's creations. In practical terms, that means not controlling other people's characters without their permission, and to allow the character's creator to decide what happens to him or her in a combat situation, among other reasons. For example, if your Policeman Joe threw a punch at Smuggler Bob, you would allow Bob's creator to decide if that punch connects.

On the other hand, do respect the situation your character is in and the effort others have spent RPing to that situation; be logical and consistent. For example, if Smuggler Bob's creator (intentionally or not) wrote Bob into a situation where he's tied to a chair and Policeman Joe has thrown a punch, it is only logical that Smuggler Bob takes the punch.

OOC Knowledge and Its IC Use

In the majority of cases, knowledge that an RPer knows from only OOC contact, such as discussions of the plot on the RP OOC forums, should not be taken into the IC interactions. If a character would not know the information solely from IC relationships and exchanges, then his or her actions should not reflect this OOC knowledge. Violating this rule is a mild form of GMing.

For example, Smuggler Bob's character description says he is terribly scarred from a fire, and he thus wears a full mask to hide his deformities. If Policeman Joe has never met Smuggler Bob before, and Smuggler Bob is wearing a full mask that hides his hideously scarred face, then Policeman Joe should have no idea that Smuggler Bob is deformed; when Joe removes Bob's mask, Joe should be suitably shocked at the web of pale scars marring Bob's features. However, Joe has a photo of Bob without his mask, then Joe might not be as surprised.

Using the English Language and Other Writing Tips

SWE is home to people from different nations, ages, and educational levels, and as such the level of English and writing expertise varies accordingly. Though we accept all levels of writing, including capitalization, proper punctuation, and sentence structure is highly encouraged; doing so not only helps facilitate the RP process and promotes understanding, but making a conscious effort in including these elements can and will improve your writing.

Clichés: Cliches are typically over-used plot elements, writing styles, or metaphors/analogies/etc; try to avoid them. In most cases, they are boring and convey very little meaning.

Imagery: Using imagery is the key to building a vibrant environment. Use metaphors and analogies, symbolism and similes; these paint a far more colorful picture than if you used simple adjectives and adverbs. In other words, show, don't tell. For example, consider this sentence: Bob ran really fast down the street. Compare that to: Bob dashed down the street, as if fleeing from a ravenous bear. Which one is more vivid?

Sounds: Taken from Xfiend:

"The reader reads with his eyes, and hears with his ears. Yes, it's true. If you didn't know that, I cannot help you. But there's more to this than that! The reader reads, then - if he's involved and interested - sounds out your words in his mind! To reel the reader into a lush and lurid land of poetic prose, the writer must conquer the concept of sound, silkily stringing syllables into sentences while making sure that the meaning is concrete. To do this, the writer must have an impressive vocabulary at his disposal, so that he can draw out the words that have the proper connotation and consonance.

Let's take a look at some of the ideas behind this. You're trying to have the reader see a green meadow in his mind. You'll want to pick words that accurately depict a spring meadow, sure - but you'll also want to work with the sounds to draw a subtle picture in the ear... Words like streaming, rolling, flowing, phrases like swishing grasses, and soft sun will draw a musical, poetic mural in the mind."

Be Patient

Perhaps the biggest difference between forum RP and RP over "live" mediums such as instant messenger or World of Warcraft is the pacing between each RPer's actions. The live mediums typically require a fairly fast-paced approach, often an instantaneous response. Forum RP's, however, are slower-paced; a response to your post may take as few as two minutes or as long as two days. This is the simple reality of forum RP, so do not fret if no one immediately responds to your IC post.

This is not to say that you should wait patiently even after weeks have gone by. If you feel you've waited long enough, probably a couple of days, then please feel free to kindly badger your RPing partners to post. Sometimes they've simply forgotten, or else they've been busy with work; a gentle reminder can easily get your thread flowing again.